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Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche announced Monday it plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, with a big part of the investment going toward a new manufacturing facility and expanded distribution operations in Indiana.
Basel-based Roche AG is the parent of Roche Diagnostics, a maker of instruments to help physicians and laboratories test for a wide range of patient conditions. Roche Diagnostics’ North American division, with more than 4,000 employees, is based on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The company said the investment would create 12,000 jobs across the United States, with 6,500 of those consisting of construction jobs for new facilities.
Roche said Indiana would receive a new manufacturing facility for continuous glucose monitoring. A specific location was not disclosed.
It also said “significant” expansions and upgrades were planned for existing pharmaceutical and diagnostics research and development centers in Indiana, Arizona and California.
Manufacturing and distribution capabilities would also be expanded in Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Oregon and California, the company said.
A spokeswoman for Roche said additional information on the investments would be made available in the coming weeks.
Also in the plan is a new 900,000-square-foot manufacturing center “to support Roche’s expanding portfolio of next-generation weight-loss medicines.” The company said the location would be announced later.
Additionally, Pennsylvania would receive a gene-therapy manufacturing facility and Massachusetts would get a new R&D center for artificial intelligence research that would serve as a hub for new cardiovascular, renal and metabolism research and development efforts.
The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has urged foreign businesses to invest more in the United States, and announced sweeping tariffs earlier this month on imports as part of hopes to reduce a large U.S. trade deficit when it comes to sales of goods.
Before the Trump administration backed off its most stringent tariff plans, products imported from Switzerland had been set to face tariffs of 31%—more than the 20% tariffs on goods from the European Union. Switzerland is not a member of the 27-country bloc but is virtually surrounded by four EU countries.
Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2 set off turmoil in world stock markets. A week later, Trump spoke by phone with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter in a conversation that her office said focused on tariffs. She emphasized the “important role of Swiss companies and investments in the United States.”
Hours later, the U.S. president announced the U-turn that paused the steep new tariffs on about 60 countries for 90 days, fanning speculation—which was not confirmed—in some Swiss media that her chat with Trump might have played a role in the change of course.
Roche, in its statement, said that once the new, expanded manufacturing comes on line, the company “will export more medicines from the U.S. than it imports”—though it made no mention of tariffs.
“Today’s announced investments underscore our longstanding commitment to research, development and manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker in a written statement.
The company—like cross-town competitor Novartis—has deep ties to the U.S. market and said it currently employs 25,000 people and operates 15 R&D centers and 13 manufacturing sites in the United States.
The planned investment will add 1,000 jobs at Roche in the U.S. and “more than 11,000 in support of new U.S. manufacturing capabilities,” it said, which will increase its footprint in the United States to 24 sites in eight states.
Roche tallied more than 60 billion Swiss francs (about $74 billion) in worldwide sales last year, and nearly 25 billion francs of sales in its key pharmaceuticals division alone came in the United States. Roche’s share price has fallen by about 18% over the past month, with most of the drop coming after the U.S. tariff announcement on April 2.
Its array of products includes cancer medicines and multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus, said new manufacturing facilities.
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Good news for the USA. Well done.
Promises made…Promises kept!
President Trump and his tariffs were not mentioned in the Roche announcement. These things take many months to plan before they can announce. This plan is likely a result of the bipartisan CHIPS Act.
we get it Michael you don’t like Trump and you don’t like the Republicans and you don’t like anything they’re going to accomplish.
This announcement, along with Eli Lilly’s announcement of US expansion were in the works way before trump was elected. Companies don’t just all of sudden plan $50 billion investments on a whim.